Opera is the most opulent and expensive of the performing arts and has historically been the province of social elites in America. In the first decades following the Second World War, opera continued to appeal to wealthy artistic patrons in the large urban centers, but, by the century’s end, it achieved a level of popularity and broad-based appeal few could have predicted in the early 1960s.

At mid-century, opera in America was dominated by a handful of companies: first and foremost of which was the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York City (the Met), followed by the San Francisco Opera Company (CA) and the New York City Opera.

Other companies of note in the early postwar era included the Lyric Opera of Chicago, IL, the Houston, Grand Opera (TX) and the Greater Miami Opera (FL). The repertoire of these companies was conservative, emphasizing the Italian, German and French canon, though new works by American composers were occasionally commissioned.

Predictably, the American contributions to the operatic repertoire during this period mimicked the canon in tone, if not always in subject. Samuel Barber, perhaps the most favored of American composers of his generation, received prestigious Met performances, including Vanessa (1957) and Antony and Cleopatra (1958). The latter, a Met commission, had a lavish production directed by Franco Zefferelli, but was a critical and popular failure. However, composers who sought to emphasize American themes achieved somewhat greater success. Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land (1954), Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah (1956) and Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe (1966) received numerous productions by major American companies, yet none found a secure place in the repertoire of European companies.

If the principal opera companies of America proved inhospitable to new and experimental currents in music, there were alternative venues. Two professional companies that regularly featured modernist repertoire were the Santa Fe Opera Company (New Mexico) and the Boston Opera Company (Massachusetts). The latter, under the direction of Sarah Caldwell, performed such demanding works as Luigi Nono’s Intolleranza (1961), Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten (1965) and Roger Session’s monumental Montezuma (American premiere, 1976). The opera programs at universities and conservatories such as the Juilliard School and Indiana University also provided alternative support for composers and helped to build audiences, furthering the careers of composers such as Dominick Argento and John Eaton.

The turning point in contemporary American opera can perhaps be traced to the New York premiere of Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass (1976). Created in collaboration with director Robert Wilson, the work broke new ground in several ways. First, in keeping with Wilson’s emphasis on theater as spectacle, the work was not based on a conventional narrative. Instead, it took the form of a pageant in which loose references to Einstein were clearly subordinated to abstract structures of music and dance. Second, the work was the first full-length opera composed using minimalist procedures: the music substituted extensive repetition and subtle variation for tonal hierarchy and thus reinforced the opera’s lack of narrative structure. Third, the score called for electronic instruments, especially synthesizers, and largely eschewed solo vocal writing in favor of a chorus. (Ironically this performance was not sponsored by the Met; the House had been rented for the occasion.) Einstein on the Beach enjoyed international success, and was followed by Satya-graha (1980), Akhnaten (1983) and The Civil Wars: A Tree is Best Measured when it is Down (1985). Glass’ stature as an operatic composer was confirmed by a Met commission on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to the New World (The Voyage, 1992).

Glass was not the only composer associated with minimalism who achieved success in opera. John Adams achieved international acclaim for Nixon in China (1987) and The Death of Klinghoffer (1991), proving that the art form of opera could not only accommodate a radically new musical style, but also could address contemporary political issues at the same time. By attracting a new, younger audience to opera, Glass and Adams created a more positive climate in American opera houses for young American composers. In recent years, new operas have achieved surprising popularity Among the most significant are Anthony Davis’ X: The Life and Times of Malcom X (1986), John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles (1991), Tobias Picker’s Emmeline (1996) and Tan Dun’s Marco Polo (1996). Dun’s work is especially notable for seamlessly blending contemporary Western vocabulary with music of Dun’s native China.

The renewed popularity of opera in America has been stimulated by other factors besides the additions of new works. First, the repertoire has been expanded by the revival of Baroque operas (most notably works of Monteverdi and Handel) at most major houses.

Second, the use of supertitles (the display of running translation above the proscenium), has made opera accessible to a much larger audience. Finally, the artistic quality of regional opera companies has improved dramatically thus spreading the operatic experience far beyond traditional centers on the American coasts. Among the most important of these companies are the Seattle Opera (Washington), the Minnesota Opera Company and the Sarasota Opera Association (Florida).